Description:Part-time PI and full-time grim reaper,
Charley Davidson has asked a lot of questions throughout her life: Why
can I see dead people? Who is the hot supernatural entity following me?
How do I get gum out of my sister's hair before she wakes up? But, "How
do I trap not one god, but three?" was never among them. Until now. And
since those gods are on earth to kill her daughter, she has little
choice but to track them down, trap them, and cast them from this
dimension. But one of them stole her heart a very long time ago. Can a
god of absolute death and destruction change his omniscient spots, or
will his allegiance lie with his brothers? Those are just some of the
questions Charley must answer, and quick. Add to that a homeless girl on
the run for her life, a man who's been framed for murdering a woman who
is still very much alive, and a pendant made from god glass that has
the entire supernatural world in an uproar, Charley has her hands full.

Review: I completed the Charley Davidson series over this weekend and enjoyed the
ride. I am, however, behind on reviewing the last few books in this
series. With ten books in a series, the momentum and the charm of the Charley Davidson series has not worn off. The trademark humor, sizzling romance, and interesting mysteries keeps the series afloat and holds my interest. In this installment we see Charley back at home and has regained her memories along with new information and new problems. She is hiding some big secrets from Reyes, and things don't
feel quite right between them. She is worried about the god glass she
carries in her pocket, and whether she will have to turn against the one
she loves. Charley is also constantly worried about her daughter and she is
determined to get her back one way or another. Along with her own drama, there are two mysteries that occupy her time. Charley does not have dull moment. Jones does not pull any punches with startling new revelations. There are a lot of things that are building up to the climax of this series. Charley is also getting more confident in her role as a supernatural being. I am eager to see where
things will go. The two side mysteries which involves a runaway girl and a murder where someone is mostly liked framed are also interesting and I liked following the clues to getting them solved. The humor balances out all of the heavy topics that are on the horizon. I was a bit frustrated on the miscommunications between Charley and Reyes. They both are hiding vital information and I just wanted them to sit down and hash every thing out. A fun addition to the series. Rating: 4 stars

Words of Caution: There is strong language, sexual situations which are times graphic, strong violence, and suggestive humor.

Description: A typical day in the life of Charley Davidson involves cheating
husbands, missing people, errant wives, philandering business owners,
and oh yeah...demons, hell hounds, evil gods, and dead people. Lots and
lots of dead people. As a part time Private Investigator and full-time
Grim Reaper, Charley has to balance the good, the bad, the undead, and
those who want her dead. In this eleventh installment, Charley is
learning to make peace with the fact that she is a goddess with all
kinds of power and that her own daughter has been born to save the world
from total destruction. But the forces of hell are determined to see
Charley banished forever to the darkest corners of another dimension.
With the son of Satan himself as her husband and world-rocking
lover,maybe Charley can find a way to have her happily ever after after
all.

Review: The problem with the Charley Davidson series is that I read them so quickly and then I have to wait in agony for the next installment. In the Eleventh Grave we finally get the whole picture surrounding the upbringing of Reyes and in particular how he got into the hands of the diabolical and abusive Earl Walker. We were given hints about Reyes sprinkled in the past volumes, but getting the whole story was completely satisfying considering the long buildup. We are also getting a clearer picture of the prophesied end of the world and Charley's daughter role. We also learn more about Jehovah and Charley’s past. We have been told by several major characters on Charley's power and importance, but we finally see her at work. She is learning more about her powers and position. The frustration between miscommunication and hiding secrets keep plaguing Charley and Reyes. While the secrets do not necessarily break them apart, it is annoying to keep seeing them go through this cycle. The book ends with a horrible cliffhanger that reminds me of Buffy, but it is a cruel wait until we see how it is all resolved in the next book. Rating: 4 stars

Words of Caution: There is strong language, sexual situations which are times graphic, strong violence, and suggestive humor.

If you like this book try: Arcadia Bell series by Jenn Bennett, Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne, Black Wings by Christina Henry

Description:Life is quiet and
ordinary in Amal's Pakistani village, but she had no complaints, and
besides, she's busy pursuing her dream of becoming a teacher one day.
Her dreams are temporarily dashed when—as the eldest daughter—she must
stay home from school to take care of her siblings. Amal is upset, but
she doesn't lose hope and finds ways to continue learning. Then the
unimaginable happens—after an accidental run-in with the son of her
village's corrupt landlord, Amal must work as his family's servant to
pay off her own family's debt. Life at the opulent Khan estate
is full of heartbreak and struggle for Amal—especially when she
inadvertently makes an enemy of a girl named Nabila. Most troubling,
though, is Amal's growing awareness of the Khans' nefarious dealings.
When it becomes clear just how far they will go to protect their
interests, Amal realizes she will have to find a way to work with others
if they are ever to exact change in a cruel status quo, and if Amal is
ever to achieve her dreams.

Review: Amal lives with her family in a small village in Pakistan. She dreams of
becoming a teacher, but as the eldest daughter her education takes a
backseat to familial responsibilities after her mother gives birth to
another girl and suffers from postpartum depression. Amal longs to catch up to her studies and hopes her mother can recover soon so she can go back to school. When
Amal is grazed by a car at the market and the stranger who emerges from
it is rude to her, she stands up to him, with dire consequences. The man
is Jawad Sahib, the son of the town’s villainous landlord. Enraged at
Amal’s disrespect, he demands that Amal’s father pay back his debts,
forcing Amal into indentured servitude. As Amal bonds with the other
servants and tries to adjust to her new life, she learns more about the
Sahib family’s history and gains knowledge that will implicate them in a
crime. When she has an opportunity to expose the truth, she takes it.
Amal Unbound covers a lot ground in its short chapters, focusing particularly with gender roles and class. It is important to note that Amal is not a slave in what we are use to seeing, but nevertheless bound metaphorically. The story is accessible and straightforward with Amal’s emotions, perspective, and strength anchoring the
narrative. I wish the author had spent more time talking about the cultural context of the story such as the village structure and the role of the landlord. A lot of the action of the story take place off the page and we are told what happens. The ending though hopeful and uplifting happens too quickly and is unfortunately, not reality. Regardless, Amal is a great role model for younger readers who fight injustice across the globe, often without recognition.

Rating: 4 stars

Words of Caution: Violence is alluded in the story and hints of inappropriate behavior of men towards girls. Recommended for Grades 5 and up.

Description: In this powerful
collection, YA authors answer real letters from teens all over the world
about the dark side of love: dating violence, break-ups, cheating,
betrayals, and loneliness. This book contains a no-holds-barred, raw
outpouring of the wisdom these authors have culled from mining their own
hearts for the fiction they write. Their responses are
autobiographical, unflinching, and filled with love and hope for the
anonymous teen letter writers.

Review: When I picked up Dear Heartbreak I was expecting that the YA authors had written essays on love and relationships in this anthology, but I am pleasantly surprised by the format. Each chapter begins with letters from real teens addressing their insecurities, fears, and vulnerabilities surrounding love and relationships followed by the author's or in one particular case author and her husband. The teenage writers of the letters share their stories—some in great detail, some in only a few words—and the responses are equally varied in terms of how deeply the authors reopen their old wounds. Becky Albertalli, Libba Bray, Corey Ann Haydu, and Kim Liggett reflect back on their teenage experiences, while Kekla Magoon talks about a flaw that he is presently working on herself in order to share wisdom. The authors do not sugar coat their answers and offer empathy to the teens. Topics such as mental health, unhealthy and abusive relations, survivor's of sexual assault, and the universal question of how we can be our authentic self while we are constantly bombarded by societal expectations of how we should live our lives. Some of the letters get repetitive by the alarming theme of not loving
yourself and how you should complete yourself. One downside to this collection is that it only includes a few male perspectives, however, the range of emotional experiences covered is vast.

Rating: 4 stars

Words of Caution: There is strong language throughout the book and frank discussion of
sexual assault, mental health, and abusive relationships are included.
Recommended for Grades 9 and up.

If you like this book try: Bad Romance by Heather Demetrios, It Ended Badly by Jennifer Wright

Description:Now that high school is
over, Ari is dying to move to the big city with his ultra-hip band―if
he can just persuade his dad to let him quit his job at their struggling
family bakery. Though he loved working there as a kid, Ari cannot
fathom a life wasting away over rising dough and hot ovens. But while
interviewing candidates for his replacement, Ari meets Hector, an
easygoing guy who loves baking as much as Ari wants to escape it. As
they become closer over batches of bread, love is ready to bloom . . .
that is, if Ari doesn’t ruin everything.

Review: Recently graduated from high school Ari dreams of moving to the city with his bad and leaving his work at his family's bakery behind. He knows
his dad will need help, though, so he tries to at least find a
replacement before he leaves forever. Enter Hector, the adorable
cooking-school dropout who’s in town cleaning out his late grandma’s
house and is absolutely perfect for the job. Over baking, deliveries,
and languorous summer fun, Ari and Hector get closer during the quiet, everyday moments that draw them together. The romance is a slow burn and perfectly paced. When disaster
strikes and the future of the bakery is called into question, Ari has to
face some hard truths about himself.
The montages of Ari and Hector are beautiful as Ganucheau’s artwork captures the unspoken intimacy between Hector and Ari as well as the variety of baking techniques of making bread and cakes. You definitely don't want to read this graphic novel when you are hungry. Unfortunately, the character development is lacking in this graphic novel. I wanted to learn more about Ari outside of his interactions with his band and Hector. When he has his epiphany towards the end of the graphic novel, it doesn't particular stick nor is it profound. I also wanted to learn more about Hector. We learn that he is Samoan and that his past relationship did not turn out well, but that's pretty much it. I also wanted to learn more about Ari's band of friends and how his friends shaped Ari's personality and desires. Overall Bloom is a quiet, sweet romance that has a lot of heart and warmth, but it left me wanting more.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Words of Caution: There is some language, partial nudity, and suggestive humor. Recommended for Grades 8 and up.

Description: Loveday Cardew prefers books to people. If you look carefully, you might glimpse the first lines of the novels she loves most tattooed on her skin. But there are some things Loveday will never, ever show you. Into her hiding place - the bookstore where she works - come a poet, a lover, and three suspicious deliveries. Someone has found out about her mysterious past. Will Loveday survive her own heartbreaking secrets?

Review: The Lost for Words Bookshop is truly a book for bibliophiles. Loveday Cardew is an anti-social, awkward tattooed 25-year-old bibliophile who works at Lost for
Words, a secondhand bookstore in York. Despite her name, Loveday doesn’t
much care for people except her boss Archie and her current love interest Nathan who is a slam poet and magician or anything except for books. She’s reserved and
painfully sarcastic, and the surrounding characters either exacerbate or
find her charming. Switching between the past and present, the chapters are
organized by genre—Poetry, History, Crime, Travel, and Memoir—and
correspond to the plot (i.e., Poetry chapters center around Nathan).
Told from Loveday’s perspective, the casual first-person narration
provides a way into the mind of Loveday who is otherwise a closed-off character. As mysterious packages start showing up at Lost for Words, only Loveday knows of their significance and we are hinted of a dark past which shaped her personality. In flashbacks we get to witness how her charmed childhood descends into darkness, one life-altering moment shatters her world—and
sense of self—forever. The buildup to and aftermath of this moment feel
earned and purposeful.
I really liked Loveday and felt for her throughout the novel. What is problematic in the book is that it sometimes veers into stereotypes about mental illness
by equating it violent behavior (perhaps unintentionally) as Loveday recalls her physically abuse father and her menacing bipolar ex-boyfriend. There are certainly dark moments in the story, but the romance between Loveday and Nathan is sweet and helps elevate the story. I wished we got to see more of Nathan in the story. The ending is hopeful, but there is a lot of serious issues lurking behind the cute book cover and synopsis.

Rating: 4 stars

Words of Caution: There is some strong language throughout the novel, instances of physical abuse, and allusions to sex. Recommended for older teens and adults.

If you like this book try: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

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